Floral Fallal
by Kira Akuma
Summary: One would think a Garment would only be something you put on as a Costume. Something to protect the wearer... Yet the Floral Fallal was so much more. Now stranded in the world her obsidian lover came from, Yuna must find out who she truly is. Maybe even learn something a little more? (I've got a Prequel in progress... Kuroune took Tidus's place and brought Chaos to Spira )


This was it. The final fight with Shuyin. We were all prepared for whatever he would throw at them. Riku had mastered her healing arts and Marksmanship; Paine had trained her blades to the best of her abilities; and I have mastered my Festivalist and Berserker skills. We all tried mastering the other Dressphere, but non of us had the time.

And without my friends knowing, I practiced my Floral Fallal form. I wish I could have told them, but everyone except Shinra kept insisting that it's too dangerous… That it would make me loose myself. Even Riku and Paine, who both have a similar ability, insist that I refrain from using it!

But Shinra helped me. He would carefully monitor me while I trained with it. He even came up with several hypotheses of why my Floral Fallal seemed to change me more than Machina Maw and Full Throttle changed Riku and Paine. He spoke of my deep connections to the spiritual and mostly none human aspects of the world. He even used the case of Lenne's dressphere to further prove and analysis his hypothesis.

I had hoped to hide this from Riku and Paine, but in the fight against Vegnigun they were getting brutally beaten. Paine tried to use Full Throttle, but I ordered her to get back. She was startled, but gave me the space I needed to draw upon my Floral Fallal.

It was nearly broken when it suddenly broke the platform. I fell through, flower and all into the rush of Pyre Flies. I could feel Lenne leaving her dressphere as I fell. My world filled with black.

The next thing I knew I was waking up on a cold hard surface. Rain fell around me, but I didn't feel a drop. My flower hanging down over my head like an umbrella. The Pistils were all hanging heavily on three of the petals while my seed was in the middle of the flower. Without it's glow, the seed looked like it was made of gold. 'Almost like the Aeons,' I thought, thinking of the gold every Aeon has somewhere.

I reached up for it, only for the entire flower to glow. It then seemed to flow into the seed, taking the white covering me with it. My dressphere immediately covered me in my Festivalist set while the seed floated into my hands.

A lock of silver/grey hair fell into my eyes, making me panic internally. 'Why is my hair still silver? What is the seed still doing here?' I thought as many more questions filled my mind.

All those thoughts came to a halt when I stood up. I couldn't figure out how, but I was smaller. My clothes were smaller as well, but I could tell my body was smaller. I stumbled around a bit trying to adjust to having a lower center of gravity; The seed was held within my arms.

I was honestly afraid to let it go. I didn't know why, but the thought of being away from it filled me with a deep abyss of fear; worse than the fear I held of loosing him.

Before long I was stumbling further the forest I was in, my feet guided me away from the stone path. My stumbling feet kept me upright until I found a hidden little garden. The plants were numerous and the entire area was more beautiful than even a clear day in the FarPlain. And yet, none of the plants seemed familiar. Not a single vine, bush, tree, or flower seemed familiar.

I pulled out my small pouch that came with the Festivalist set and pulled out a Floral guide I kept hidden in it. Every page gave detailed descriptions of the numerous plants of Spira and had a pouch of seeds for each (I collected the seeds for each pouch, even the crystal plants). I wrote the book after I began using Floral Fallal, hoping it would help me understand it. Shinra made the book for me so I could add pages, move them around, and had pouches for each type of seed. He was bouncing in his chair every time I showed him a new page.

I flipped through the well worn book and found that not a single plant matched up. Some were similar, but the plants were all different. I couldn't even find any Gyshal Greens in the paradise like garden. I explored the hidden garden, enjoying all the new plants and writing them into the blank pages with a new section header.

I hadn't noticed someone watching me until I accidentally bumped into them. My eyes went wide as I took in their appearance. His short Imp red hair and Tonberry green eyes were startlingly bright for a human. He looked to be about Eight, and to my surprise, I was eye level with him.

"Hello, are you lost?" He asked. His eyes looked far older and more calculating than an eight year old would be.

I looked at him with a bit of uncertainty in my eyes, my book and seed held tightly. "I don't know where I am…" I replied to his question.

He looked me over before deciding to say another word. "I can help you get back to your parents, they must me worried," he said with a sigh.

"They're dead," I replied simply. I had performed my own mother's sending, and I knew my dad was the last High Summoner. I came to terms with their deaths long ago, knowing there were worse ways to die.

The boy didn't seemed startled at my all to cold reply and changed topics, "you seem to like my garden."

It seemed like an odd topic starter, but I was glad to have someone to talk to… Even if he was obviously not the age he appeared. "I've got a close… Connection to plants. I like to learn as much as I can," I replied with a light tone.

I then showed him my book and he helped me fill in new pages and showed me how to get seeds from each plant we wrote in. He was fun to talk to, and had a nice smile… even if it was forced like mine was.

"You should really smile more. It makes you look prettier than any gem I've stolen!" I couldn't help but remember what he said when we were in Luca.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked me. His green eyes far to close for comfort.

"Yeah, is something wrong?" I replied, my smile in place.

I could see something in his tonberry green eyes when he replied, "you were crying." He then pulled out a small piece of light blue cloth and held it out to me.

I took it with a "Thank You" and wiped away my tears. "It's nothing," I replied to his questioning gaze. When it didn't relent I said, "just remembering someone."

He didn't push any further.

When the sun was low in the sky, the boy asked, "do you have any place to stay…"

The ending seemed open, and I realized I hadn't introduced myself. "Yuna… my name is Yuna… and I don't have a home if that is what you mean," she replied, hoping the boy wouldn't react to oddly.

The boy at first smiled, but then he seemed to deflate. "I'm Minamino Shuichi," he said, "Do you have a last name?"

I looked at him quite clearly confused, "Last… Name?" I tested the new phrase out. It seemed odd. Why would a person need a last name? Is it like the last name you'll ever be called, or something simple like a secondary name? he did say Minamino and Shuichi like the two were different words…

"A last name is a second name. A family name. Like my name is Shuichi, but me and my Mother share the last name Minamino," he explained, "It helps tell people apart."

"Why would you need a "Last Name" if life is so short? People die all the time," I replied thoroughly confused. Sin killed a lot of people in a short amount of time, not to mention all the monsters that killed people.

POV CHANGE

"Is something wrong Shuichi?" The little girl asked me. I looked down at her, but couldn't find any words.

This little girl seems so human… So why did that sound like something only a Yokai would say? There were plenty of humans to warrant the need for a little more individuality. So why does she sound like she didn't think there were that many?

BACK TO YUNA

Why is he looking at me strangely? I just stated facts didn't I? Shinra would have been proud of that response for Yeavon's sake!

He seemed to be debating something, so I let him think. My little book was in my hands as I read over the new pages. The large seed was nice to curl around while I was sitting on the ground.

Finally after a couple minutes the boy Shuichi, decided to speak again, "You said you don't have a home?"

'That would have been a sore subject for most' I thought. "That's correct," I said aloud, much more rudely than I wanted to.

He seemed to be debating again until he said, "I don't think my mom would mind another child around the house..."

I looked up at him in shock. How could he offer entry to his own home when he didn't know me? But… I'm all alone here… was I ever not alone though? They didn't want to accept Floral Fallal, even though it was a part of me…

"Alright, I accept," I replied, trying to hide my all to emotional eyes. He could always tell what I was feeling when I looked him in the eye.

Shuichi smiled and helped me to my feet… only for me to fall into him when my legs refused to work.

"Are you okay?" He asked while helping he stay standing.

I looked up at him worried. "I can't move my legs!" I exclaimed, panicking a little.

He tried bringing me over to a bench, but my feet refused to budge an inch. He had me lean up against a tree behind me to check my feet. The skirt of my yukata was pulled up a little revealing roots wrapped around my legs.

The tree behind me took the opportunity to try ensnaring me in its numerous branches. The tree was stopped before it could do much more than surround me by Shuichi's glare. The sight was worse than any creature that I had ever seen. Not even a full grown Evil Eye could look so menacing!

"It seems to think you're a new plant invading its territory," Shuichi said while he unwound the roots.

"A new plant?" I asked. My seed belt tightly in my arms.

"Yes. This tree is very territorial and hates for other plants to come near. It has never attacked an animal though which is puzzling," he explained.

My right leg was almost free of the plants by the time I asked him, "is it my seed then?"

He looked up surprised, "that's a seed?"

"What else?" I asked, "it's not like someone would carry around an egg shaped chunk of gold?"

Getting back to the task at hand he replied, "it just seems too big for any plant I've ever seen."

If only he knew. I am part of Floral Fallal when it's in full bloom after all! I was far less than half the flower's size when it happens.

I wonder if I'm still part flora right now? It might explain why I'm still white and why that tree attacked me… it might even explain why the seed is still here! It should have gone back to its Sphere when I left that fight!

Sphere? What about my sphere grid?! I suddenly panicked. I reached a hand into the inner pocket of the Yukata and pulled the Sphere Grid into sight. I made sure Shuichi couldn't see the spheres while I checked to make sure every sphere was undamaged. While Riku and Paine held onto their own copies, Shinra trusted me to keep the originals safe.

Shuichi was done removing the roots by the time the grid was safely put back.

He reached his hand out again and asked, "are you ready to go?" I reached my hand out, but I couldn't help but remember when he asked the same question. Although, he asked it when he was saving me from my own wedding! I recalled.

Taking my hand, Shuichi began walking me to his home. Why does Shuichi remind me of him so much? I wondered while we were walking.

At his home we were quickly met by an average woman with black hair. "Hello mother," Shuichi said.

"Hello Shu-Kun! Who's this lovely young girl with you?" The mother greeted.

Shuichi pulled me out from behind him and said, "this is Yuna. She doesn't have a home or family."

I held onto my seed while I looked up at the woman. "Hello,"I spoke softly, already sounding like the age I looked.

The woman hugged me. Something only my family and he did. My eyes were filled with tears once I realized I probably won't see them again. How could I when I'm stuck in a world not my own? It's obvious that this place is far from the world I knew with its stone buildings and lack of any Pyre Flies.

POV KURAMA

Why is she crying again? Is it the hug or some kind of memories? Looking onto Yuna's eyes I could see the unknown pains. Why would an Eight year old fell so much pain?

POV YUNA

The hug didn't last long, but when the woman saw my tears she wiped them away. She then hugged me tightly again. Is she trying to make me not sad?

When the woman was (finally) done hugging me she said, "stay as long as you like, I'd love to adopt you."


End file.
